# II explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by E. M. Forster.

## What happens

Harold falls asleep in the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, and Mildred discovers him there. When he wakes, he reveals a mysterious memory of a past life, which Mildred initially embraces with excitement but soon finds unsatisfying due to his lack of specific details. Meanwhile, Sir Edwin and Lady Peaslake grow increasingly irritated with Harold's behavior, which Sir Edwin cannot understand, sensing a mystery in him that he finds troubling.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Past and Authenticity

Harold's memory of a past life raises questions about the authenticity of personal history and the value of remembering versus living in the present.

### Imagination vs. Rationality

Mildred's romantic fascination with Harold's past contrasts with Sir Edwin's rational frustration and inability to accept what he cannot understand.

### Repression vs. Liberation

Harold's sleep and subsequent revelation represent a liberation from conventional thought, while Sir Edwin's irritation reflects a repressive need for control and understanding.

## Character check-ins

### Harold

Falls asleep in the Temple of Zeus, reveals a mysterious memory of a past life, and feels ecstatic that Mildred believes him.

### Mildred Peaslake

Discovers Harold asleep, initially thrilled by his revelation but soon bored by his lack of specific details about his past life.

### Sir Edwin

Irritated by Harold's behavior, fails to understand him, and senses a mystery in Harold that he finds troubling.

### Lilian

Defends Harold to her father, explaining that Harold is tired and has not slept well.

### Lady Peaslake

Sitting in the temple of Juno Lacinia, cross and fatigued, wondering where Harold and Mildred are.

## Key lines

> He was right. There was a mystery, and a great one. Yet it was trivial and unimportant in comparison with the power to love and the desire for truth⁠—things which he saw daily, and, because he had seen daily, ignored.

Sir Edwin correctly senses a profound mystery in Harold, but this mystery is insignificant compared to the love and truth that Harold embodies every day, which Sir Edwin overlooks.

_Highlights Sir Edwin's misjudgment of Harold's true worth._

> Sleep has little in common with death, to which men have compared it. Harold’s limbs lay in utter relaxation, but he was tingling with life, glorying in the bounty of the earth and the warmth of the sun, and the little blue flower bent and fluttered like a tree in a gale.

Harold's sleep is not like death; he is fully alive, relaxed yet vibrant, connected to the natural world around him.

_Contrasts the common metaphor of sleep as death with Harold's vital, life-affirming rest._

> I don’t see any poetry. It just has happened, that’s all. I lived here before.

Harold dismisses Mildred's romantic view of his past life memory, treating it as a simple fact rather than something poetic.

_Shows Harold's pragmatic attitude toward his mysterious experience._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_13_se/chapters/ii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_13_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_13_se/chapters